How to stand out in your market.

Think niche within a niche.

Finding a niche is pretty easy but making money in an already healthy saturated market can be difficult. So what do you do? Create a niche within that niche. Target a smaller segment of that audience. There can be huge dollars in small niches. 

Here are some great examples of companies who were successful at creating their own space within a market that already had high occupancy.

The purchase of beauty products, especially new ones, is heavily dependant on customers sampling them. This is why beauty products aren't well suited for selling online. It's also why companies produce product samples and give them out to customers for free.

Samples can be your cheapest form of advertising. 

The "try before you buy" method is a great way to try a product without the commitment. Birchbox, a New-York based company was founded for this purpose. For a small monthly fee of $10 per month (plus shipping and handling), you can receive a box with 5 high-end beauty product samples delivered to your door. Since samples are already being mass produced by cosmetics companies, it was easy to combine it with a personalized customer experience.

Co-founders Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna started Birchbox from their Harvard Business School campus apartment in 2010. Today, Birchbox has well over 100,000 subscribers and has more than $12 million in venture capital.

One mom got her million dollar idea from her young son. As she watched him attempt to flatten and position his stuffed animal into something he could lie his head on, it came to her. She decided to create a product that could be both a pillow and a stuffed animal. Pillow Pets Folding plush have been bringing function and warmth to children since 2003 and now have an extensive line of products like backpacks, flipper slippers and glow pets. Watch as CBS News interviews founder Jennifer Telfer about her brilliant idea.

Consignment clothing shops are usually synonymous with words like "hand-me-down", "gently used", and "bargain prices" but how about "glamorous"? No?

With a strong vision and only $6,500, Margaret Miner opened Rags Consignment, a retail store specializing in the re-sale of designer handbags, accessories and high-end clothing. Margaret is very selective about which items enter her shop. Even with 250 newly consigned items added everyday, she still manages to completely turns over the store’s inventory every four weeks. At Rags Consignment, high-end is now more affordable. Altogether, the store averages annual sales of approximately $1.3 million.

What niche market do you own?

Morty Silber, CEO

Mad Strategies Inc.
a Wizard of Ads Partner